True, From a Certain Point of View

Well, it's November. Which means two things. One, I forgot about October. Whoops. Two, it's NaNoWriMo.

So last we… spoke, I had a pile of tropes and character traits and plot elements. Well, now I have a vaguely steampunk treasure-hunting action adventure with a search for a mysterious treasure hidden by a long-gone secret society. I'm actually pretty excited for it.

At this point, I'm not quite 2,000 words in. Barely beginning. But I'm on the second chapter and I already have something I want to talk about: POV.

For the uninitiated, that's Point of View. There's a lot of options for POV. 1st person vs. 3rd person (and yes, also 2nd person, but that's rarely used). Single vs. multi. Omniscient vs. limited vs objective. I'm not going to get into all the details of all the different kinds. Suffice it to say it's a matter of who we are following through the story, and how close we're following them.

The Inconvenience of Knowing Everything

And here we are again. I've had a few ideas for that crazy story that democracy has thrust upon me. But before I can get into that, I have to finish my previous project, which was rewriting "My Soul to Take," which some of you may remember as something I started last year. Then I shoved it in a box with its disappointing non-ending, and I left it there until it started to smell a little weird in the back of the closet. Then I took it out, made a valiant attempt at a plot outline/character arc, and waited for it to emerge, fully-formed.

Obvious that's not going to happen.

So I actually, finally, sat down the other day, and started writing. I'm about 800 words in. I have the first two points on my little plot mountain. It's going seemingly well.

But already, trouble lurks.

Not in the seemingly haunted mansion beside the railroad tracks. Although, yes, there also. But more importantly, in the very fiber of the story. The Fates may weave the tapestry, but are they using the right string?

Point of view. That's what I'm talking about, behind all the metaphors.

Redeemable, Like a Coupon

There's still about a week left to vote on the genre of my next project. As it stands, it's tied, which means I'll have to combine the winning genres. And honestly, I'm kind of excited about the prospect.

As for the current project, well…

I haven't finished outlining it yet. What have I been doing all this time, you ask? I don't know. Not outlining, I guess. Motivation is still something I'm working on. The whole getting up and writing every day thing.

So the point in the character arc outline thing where I left off is the point of the story where the character goes on the offensive. He should try to defeat the antagonist (in this case a soul-gobbling entity), and he should fail. Then some other stuff should happen, some more information is learned, and then the final battle, so to speak. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen here. In this case, perhaps the entity remains undefeated, but the character succeeds in saving the Girl.  And then the aftermath of that.

Lagging Behind, but Gaining Ground

I'm still behind on my word count, but I think I'm slightly less behind now. Nobody panic, there's still time.

A thing I always struggle with is narrative voice. I've talked about this before. Basically, I find it hard to maintain the same voice throughout, especially when I'm aiming for it to have a little more personality than "They did this. They went over there." But I'll yoyo between flat/boring and pure sarcasm/breaking the fourth wall. I think I've finally found the right voice for Des. Because he needs to be all sarcasm and a little breaking the fourth wall. We are spending a lot of time in his head, after all.

Right now, I have a few plot points that need to happen, and I'm trying desperately to have them not all happen at once, but I had to let the story move forward a little, and hope that I could fill things in later. That's where we are now. I'll even share a little excerpt. If anyone's coming into this adventure late, it's relevant to note that Des is a vampire.

A Tale Told Too Quickly

It looks like all posts will be posted in the evening until the end of November. I just don't have the time (between work and NaNo) to get them out in the morning. Sorry to let everyone down.

I'm already behind on my word count. I made my quota the first day and then never again. On the bright side, I have basically all of Saturday to catch up.

I actually have a sort of outline of things that need to happen. My problem is that I tend to just go straight from one plot point to the next, with no extra stuff to fill out the in-between. I need some subplots going. I kind of sowed the seeds for one that's also going to bring in some punk rock backstory, and I'm looking forward to that.

Gaining Perspective

I did say that I would do a post on point of view (POV). So here it is. This is going to be a kind of informational type deal, because, well, I'm full of information, and every so often I have to let some out, or it'll overflow or something terrible. I'll just run around yelling random facts. It's horrible.

So, getting to the point, there are three basic POVs. First, second, and third. There are some subcategories.

• First - uses "I." You're right there in your character's head. This comes in two flavors.
• Central - the main character tells the story. "I" am the hero, right in the thick of it.
• Peripheral - a side character tells the story. "I" am watching the hero, and telling you about it.
• Second - uses "you." This isn't all that common in fiction, outside of Choose Your Own Adventure.
• Third - uses "he/she." You're outside of the characters, but there are variations.
• Omniscient - the narrator knows everything about everyone. You'll see what everyone is doing and thinking.
• Limited - the narrator knows everything about one character. You'll only see what that character is thinking.
• Objective - the narrator only reports what can be seen. It's like a movie, in that you'll see what characters are doing, but not what they're thinking.

Me, I tend to go for first, third limited, or third objective. When I find my main characters, I follow them closely. I don't report on what the bad guys are doing in the meantime. Should I? Maybe, but that's something to work on in the future.

Continued Adventures in Planning

Des Mackenzie, perpetual twenty-something, had grown accustomed to the life of the nearly-dead. But now he must face his greatest challenge: selling ice cream.

Coming this November, from renowned procrastinator Mad Cooper: Cold Blooded.

Okay, I don’t know if that's the title. It’s a good placeholder, at any rate. My main character (or "MC" as we say… in the business), does in fact have a name now. So that's cool. I think it suits him. There was a long and complicated process that led to that name. Basically, I saw one name that made me think of a show, which made me think of another name. And here we are. I could get into the details if you want.